In the operation of closing or seaming cans, such as 12 and 16 ounce beer cans, it is necessary to frequently check the spring pressure exerted on the can by a pressure spring provided in the can holding chuck of the machine. For example, the spring pressure must be checked and adjusted when changing can size and/or when cans formed of different materials, such as aluminum and steel, are being processed in the machine. Can closing machines of the type in question generally have twelve stations and it is a very tedious, time-consuming and expensive procedure to make the necessary spring pressure adjustments in accordance with prior art practice.
The prior art practice involves inserting between the seaming chuck adapter and the wear plate of the can holding adapter at each station of the machine a conventional mechanical force gage and a spacer or adapter for the gage. Every time an incremental adjustment of the pressure spring in the can holding chuck requires adjustment by means of a conventional allen screw wrench, it is necessary to remove the mechanical force gage and spacer and to reinsert the same in the machine in order to measure the spring pressure following adjustment. Several incremental adjustments may be required on the springs at each of the twelve machine stations. The required cumbersome and tedious procedure of removing and reinserting the mechanical force gage and its spacer at each station to allow each incremental spring adjustment is very impractical, slow and costly. The actual prior art procedure involves 14 separate steps.
The invention has for its object to greatly simplify the procedure for adjusting the spring pressure exerted on cans at the closing or seaming stations by providing a simple and efficient spring pressure adjusting tool which can be employed in situ along with a mechanical force gage, thus eliminating the repetitive use of a separate allen screw wrench, and the necessity for removing the force gage for each separate spring adjustment at each station of the machine, followed by reinserting the gage with its adapter or spacer.
The tool which embodies the present invention is a simple self-contained unit which takes the place of the prior art force gage spacer and has an axially guided and turnable built-in allen wrench stem which can be utilized in situ to rotate the spring pressure adjusting screw of the can holding chuck, the results of which spring adjustment can be directly read in situ on the mechanical force gage. The arrangement greatly simplifies the adjusting procedure and drastically reduces the time involved in making the necessary adjustments of spring pressure.
While no known prior art device exists for achieving the purposes of this invention, the following known domestic U.S. Pat. Nos. of mere general interest are made of record under 37 C.F.R. 1.56:
2,226,410 PA1 2,670,626 PA1 3,255,716 PA1 3,404,564 PA1 3,832,892 PA1 3,897,680